By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — “We’ve been here before; we’re not losing this game.”
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said his players repeatedly said that during late timeouts as the Tar Heels played through another heart-thumping finish.
“Just hearing that consistently amongst a number of people, you could just see the confidence in them that they could pull through and make the play that they needed in order to get the win,” Davis said after the Tar Heels’ 67–66 victory Saturday at the Smith Center they had to have to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive.
RJ Davis’ short step-back jumper with 50.4 seconds left on his way to a game-high 18 points held up as the game-winning shot to move UNC to 6–4 in one-possession games, but only after chaos at the end.
“I think our desperation level is just more so just wanting to win and knowing what’s at stake for us,” RJ Davis said. “Just trying to make one last push. And one thing about this team is that we’re not going to go down without a fight.”
Carolina won despite missing the front end of one-and-ones twice in the last 19 seconds. The Tar Heels (14–10, 7–5 ACC ) survived another last-second potential shot from an opponent. Like in the wins over UCLA, Notre Dame and N.C. State, Elliot Cadeau’s defense was huge on the last play.
“It felt really good, because we feel like we’ve been in that position so many times, and we’ve been on the wrong side of it, so it feels good to be on the good side of it now,” Cadeau said.
Pitt’s Ishmail Leggett drove to the lane, and his off-balance shot bounced off the front of the rim. UNC had survived another crazy finish.
“I think one of the things that gives them confidence is that they’ve been in the situation before,” Coach Davis said. “Obviously, sometimes it hasn’t gone our way, but there have been times that it has. And one of the things I’ve told them, I said, ‘You know, you guys have the answers to the test. We’ve just got to write them down on the paper.’ We knew what we needed to do in terms of getting stops [and] executing on the offensive end.”
The Tar Heels did it by making little plays they hadn’t executed while losing four of their previous five games, including Drake Powell’s late deflection on defense and Seth Trimble and Powell diving on the floor to take more time off the clock.
“Those are things that are not going to show up in the highlight reel, but those are little things that make big things happen,” Coach Davis said.
Trimble was just eager to make up for missing one of those front ends of one-and-ones.
“I was mad at myself for missing the free throw, but I just wanted to win the game,” he said. “We have been in these situations. We’ve lost them in these same exact situations. We know what it takes, but you just know you want to win these types of dirty, grimy games. You have to make that extra effort. I feel like those last two minutes Ven-[Allen Lubin] was incredible with his effort plays. Drake was incredible. I made a couple of my own. We did what it takes to come out on top.”
The Tar Heels needed only 10 minutes to score 24 points and made 11 of their first 14 shots, but they required 20 more minutes to score their next 24 and made 15 of 40 the rest of the way.
But they found a way.
“It’s not something we really work on, but when the clock hits the five-minute mark, it’s winning time,” Powell said. “So, it’s time to tighten the screws and be sharp on everything. The intensity we had throughout the game, I think that showed down the stretch.”
After struggling mightily against switching defenses in the second half of the loss at Pittsburgh on Jan. 28 and a week earlier at Duke, UNC made adjustments and took advantage of mismatches early.
“They really attacked our switching,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “They were very prepared for us and really hurt us early.”
Lubin scored a season-high 17 points, netting nine in a 12–0 early run as he got the ball down low against guards.
“We try to really take advantage of teams playing like that,” Lubin said. “Just trying to put a big down low. We worked on it all week.”
UNC was so good against the switching that Pittsburgh (14–9, 5–7) stopped switching — for the most part — after the second television timeout of the first half.
The Vanderbilt transfer said that the last few seconds were tense.
“It was scary because we’ve been in the situations where it doesn’t really end well with us. It was a great relief,” Lubin said of when the last shot didn’t go in. “We were able to breathe. I could just feel the whole gym, even myself, holding our breath. The ball’s in the air … hoping for the ball to go in the hoop.”
Trimble found the perimeter shooting range, scoring 15 points and making two 3-pointers. This was his first time with multiple 3s since the loss to Auburn on Nov. 26.
“It felt really good today,” Trimble said. I’ve been working my tail off each and every day just to get back in rhythm and get going from three again. So today was a huge step for me.”
After Jaland Lowe scored a 3-pointer in the game’s first 27 seconds, Lubin scored nine points during a 12–0 UNC run before Pitt went on a 9–2 run. A Powell jumper and transition layup capped a 14–5 UNC run to push the lead to 11 after 11 minutes.
A 10–0 Pitt run that chopped UNC’s lead to one with 2:08 left in the first half before a Trimble put-back ended a nearly five-minute Tar Heels scoring drought, but a Brandin Cummings 3-pointer tied it. Three UNC free throws in the last 1:17 gave the Heels a 35–32 halftime lead.
Pitt went up by two points when it opened the second half with a 7–2 run. UNC responded with eight straight points — including 3s from Trimble and Davis — to go up by six. Pitt went up by three with a 10–1 run capped by a Zack Austin 3-pointer with 10:07 left.
A corner Powell 3-pointer ended a more than six-minute UNC field-goal drought and started an 8–4 run to give UNC a one-point lead on another Powell 3 with 6:69 left.
After Pitt had taken a two-point lead, Trimble’s driving three-point play gave UNC a 63–62 lead with 3:41 left before the teams traded leads. A Lowe layup gave Pitt a one-point edge with 2:03 remaining before Davis’ jumper gave UNC the lead for good.
Cameron Corhen led Pitt with 17 points and Lowe added 15.
NOTES — Carolina gets a day off before playing at Clemson at 7 p.m. Monday (ESPN) in a Quad 1 game. The Tigers (19–5, 11–2) upset No. 2 Duke 77–71 at home on Saturday night. … The game was within five points at the five-minute mark in the second half for the 12th time in 24 games. … It was Davis’ ninth game this season with at least three 3-pointers. … On Jan. 28 at Pitt, the Tar Heels committed 14 turnovers, leading to 22 Pitt points. Saturday, the Tar Heels committed only six turnovers, leading to six Pitt points. … This was the first time in six games the opponents scored fewer than 10 points off turnovers. … Jalen Washington came out early in the second half with blood over his left eye. … Cadeau has at least three fouls in 12 of the last 15 games. … Ian Jackson was scoreless for the first time this season, going 0 for 3 from the floor. His previous season-low was five points. … Trimble, Jackson and Lubin started for the fourth consecutive game, although the public address announcer incorrectly announced Washington as a starter instead of Lubin. … Carolina’s early 12–0 run was its longest since a 15–0 run on Jan. 15 against California. … After consecutive questionable first-half fouls against UNC in which Tar Heels fell to the court, Linda Ronstadt’s “When Will I Be Loved,” including the lyrics, “I’ve been put down; I’ve been pushed ’round,” played on the public-address system. … Antawn Jamison was at the game. … UNC is 9–2 in the Smith Center this season. … Carolina has won three of the last four meetings with Pitt and leads the series 18–9, including 7–3 in the Smith Center. … This is the first time UNC has won multiple games in a season by one point since 2007–08. Carolina beat Notre Dame 74–73 on Jan. 4.
UNC 67, Pitt 66
UNC season statistics
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 9–0 | 20–1 | 2 |
| No. 20 Clemson | 8–1 | 18–4 | 31 |
| No. 18 Virginia | 7–2 | 18–3 | 18 |
| N.C. State | 7–2 | 16–6 | 26 |
| No. 14 North Carolina | 6–3 | 18–4 | 25 |
| Miami | 6–3 | 17–5 | 39 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 5–4 | 15–6 | 17 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–5 | 16–7 | 56 |
| SMU | 4–4 | 15–6 | 34 |
| California | 4–5 | 16–6 | 51 |
| Syracuse | 4–6 | 13–10 | 78 |
| Stanford | 3–6 | 14–8 | 77 |
| Florida State | 3–6 | 10–12 | 102 |
| Boston College | 2–6 | 9–12 | 152 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–7 | 11–11 | 143 |
| Notre Dame | 2–7 | 11–11 | 85 |
| Wake Forest | 2–7 | 11–11 | 70 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–7 | 9–13 | 114 |
* — Through Saturday games
Saturday’s games
No. 14 North Carolina 91, Georgia Tech 75
No. 4 Duke 72, Virginia Tech 58
N.C. State 96, Wake Forest 78
No. 20 Clemson 63, Pittsburgh 52
No. 18 Virginia 73, Boston College 66
No. 24 Louisville 88, SMU 74
California 86, Miami 81
Florida State 88, Stanford 80
Syracuse 86, Notre Dame 72
Monday’s game
No. 14 North Carolina 87, Syracuse 77
Tuesday’s games
Boston College at No. 4 Duke, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Pittsburgh at No. 18 Virginia, 9 p.m., ACC Network
N.C. State at SMU, 9 p.m, ESPN2
Wednesday’s games
Notre Dame at No. 24 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia Tech at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
No. 20 Clemson at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
Virginia Tech at N.C. State, noon, The CW
Syracuse at No. 18 Virginia, noon, ESPN
No. 24 Louisville at Wake Forest, noon, ACC Network
Miami at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., The CW
Florida State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., The CW
No. 4 Duke at No. 14 North Carolina, 6:30, ESPN
No. 20 Clemson at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Stanford, 8 p.m., ESPNU
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 16 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 11 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 10 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 18 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics
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